An unfortunate incident lands our favorite Ford F1 in a ditch. But amazingly, it lives to see another race day!
By now, you’re probably very familiar with this insane Ford F1 known as Old Smokey. The build debuted way back in 2016 at SEMA in Las Vegas, and has made the rounds ever since. Built by Chuckles Garage, the heavily patina’d pickup was never designed to be a show queen, however. It was built to run pretty much every kind of race you can think of, from the drags to drifting competitions. And most recently, the legendary event known as the Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb.
Sadly, however, the 90+ pounds of boost in the truck’s 5.9-liter Cummins proved a bit too much to handle on that infamous mountain road. With all 1,200 horsepower and 2,000 lb-ft of torque screaming around Engineer’s Corner, driver and builder Scotty Birdsall lost control and slid off the embankment.
A post shared by Scott Birdsall (@chucklesgarage) on Jun 22, 2018 at 12:42pm PDT
Thankfully, he and the Ford F1 came to rest in a ditch and Birdsall didn’t suffer any major injuries. Credit some trees, which Birdsall actually believes helped lessen the damage. “Usually trees are a bad thing,” he wrote on Instagram. “They slowed the truck a good amount before it slammed into the hillside.”
A post shared by Scott Birdsall (@chucklesgarage) on Jun 19, 2018 at 10:36pm PDT
Also surprisingly, the truck held up very well after the hairy crash. Birdsall and team actually managed to get Old Smokey repaired in time to finish the race. But then, a blown piston ended their day once again. But have no fear – the heavily turbo’d ride will live to see another day. And that already includes next year’s Pike’s Peak, which the team has already committed to. Let’s hope that next time around, this incredible Ford F1 fares a little better!
He has been an automotive enthusiast since the day he came into this world and rode home from the hospital in a first-gen Mustang, and he's been wrenching on them nearly as long.
